Leisure travel has returned for airlines and hotels, but business travel remains significantly lower than pre-pandemic levels, and the D.C. area will be among the hardest hit this year.
The D.C.-based American Hotel & Lodging Association has released a report on the state of business travel for 2022, and it predicts spending will be 23% below pre-pandemic levels nationwide. For the D.C. market, the deficit is double the national drop — an estimated 54.4%.
That translates into nearly $1.5 billion in business travel spending — including corporate, group, government and other commercial categories — D.C.-area hotels won’t see compared to 2019, a drop from nearly $2.8 billion to a projected $1.26 billion.
The D.C. metro area ranks behind only San Francisco and New York City in projected loss in business travel spending this year. San Francisco is expected to lose $1.7 billion compared to 2019, a 68.8% drop. New York City’s deficit is a projected $2.5 billion, or 55.3%.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Jeff Clabaugh over at WTOP
